My dream, since high school, is to become a sports writer. In my sophomore year of high school, I joined a Lakers fan blog called Lakers Pulse. I wrote about college prospects, film breakdowns, and game recaps. I wrote as much as I could. My plan was clear: blog until you get a paid job. Life isn’t that simple because after high school, college stalled my sports writer dream.
I still wrote for my school newspaper, the UCSD Guardian, and became an editor there. I really developed my writing and attention to grammatical details, but I lost my passion to purse a writing career. It just didn’t seem feasible, but then I found F1.
I got into F1 like many Americans, watching Netflix’s Drive to Survive. I thought all of the drivers were really cool, everyone is pushing the limits of their bodies, mind, and soul to win a championship. There are inner team battles, while the team as a whole must compete with nine others. The show captures what American love: drama. Kevin Clark of the Ringer often says that F1 turned each driver into a reality tv star and if Miami taught us anything, that is certainly the case.
Since getting into F1, I’ve done a deep dive into the F1 Technical subreddit, watched all of Chain Bear’s videos, and subscribed to dozens of podcasts. I’m all in on the sport, learning about more of the history, waking up at ridiculously early times, I’m doing it all. Now, the next phase of my fandom is to produce content, both written and podcast form.
I am by no means an expert on the sport, but my passion and interest drives me to learn more about the sport. All of my learning will be published here, from explaining the upgrade packages/strategy calls, to offering my thoughts on the FIA Super License system (spoiler: it needs a lot of work), I’ll be writing as I learn and experience the sport.
I also plan on writing about Indycar and Formula 2. While the cars and rule sets might be different to F1, all motorsports are driven by strategy calls and automotive innovation.
I promise to regularly deliver 1 articles per week at least, with a podcast coming in the near future as well. I want this community to be a hub for new Americans fans and those who have been watching for years.
This blog is named The Free Pitstop because F1 swept me up like a safety car: out of nowhere. The sport gave me a new passion for writing, like a fresh pair of soft tires. Whether or not it was the right call to write about a sport I am new to, the fresh tires are on. Now, it is I who must Drive to Survive.
The Free pitstop 